


alternate fates

by stardustpilot



Category: Keeper of the Lost Cities Series - Shannon Messenger
Genre: Angst, Black Swan - Freeform, Flashback Spoilers, Multi, Neverseen - Freeform, Shade, Special Abilities, Twins, keeper of the lost cities - Freeform, minor references to canon relationships, shadowflux, sibling relationships
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-03
Updated: 2019-01-03
Packaged: 2019-10-03 07:05:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,708
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17279357
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stardustpilot/pseuds/stardustpilot
Summary: Keefe nudged Sophie’s shoulder. “What are you thinking about?” When she opened her mouth to argue, he held up his hand. “I can feel your indecision, don’t try to deny it.”Sophie shrugged, scooting over as if the few inches of space between them could prevent Keefe from taking a reading on her. She wasn’t even sure if she could answer his question, what with the matchmaking results, Alvar’s escape, and worst of all, Tam’s new affiliation with the Neverseen. All these problems were piling up, and she felt helpless as each of the Black Swan’s plans seemed to work, and failed in the end, leading them nowhere in progress.(alternatively summarized: how flashback should have ended)





	alternate fates

Keefe nudged Sophie’s shoulder. “What are you thinking about?” When she opened her mouth to argue, he held up his hand. “I can feel your indecision, don’t try to deny it.”

Sophie shrugged, scooting over as if the few inches of space between them could prevent Keefe from taking a reading on her. She wasn’t even sure if she could answer his question, what with the matchmaking results, Alvar’s escape, and worst of all, Tam’s new affiliation with the Neverseen. All these problems were piling up, and she felt helpless as each of the Black Swan’s plans seemed to work, and failed in the end, leading them nowhere in progress.

“Seriously, Foster. I know we’ve had our ups and downs but…” He traced his fingers through her flower inlaid carpet. “You can trust me. You can _always_ trust me.”

“We just have...so many issues,” she said, trying not to let her frustrations show. “I used to have a slight idea of what we should focus on. But it seems like this time the Neverseen have stumped us. They even took one of our members. _Willingly_.”

Keefe sighed as he watched her nervously tug on another itchy eyelash. “Let’s think this through, yeah? Linh said Tam can take care of himself. She’s his sister, his _twin_. We have to trust her on this. And with Alvar...He won’t be able to hide for long. Just think about it, the next time they confront us, we’d be really lucky if Bangs Boy is there. He’s important--they need him for the sorpidine or whatever. And for Ruy’s force fields. We just have to have a good enough plan that once it comes to the point that we engage again...We’ll be able to get our Bangs Boy back. And maybe Alvar and a few others with them.”

“But that’s the _thing_ ,” Sophie insisted, curling her hands into fists. “We don’t know what their next move is. I can’t even contact Tam to find out--with Gethen there, he’d be lucky to even hide his allegiance with the Black Swan. And they wouldn’t be foolish enough to bring Tam into battle with us, knowing where he stands currently, even if he _is_ freakishly powerful.” She shuddered, thinking about the inky black shadowflux that had cut through Ruy’s force fields, through her skin, sinking in bone deep. “Don’t you see the problem? We’re at a dead end. Again.”

Keefe sighed. A moment of contemplation passed before he spoke again. “It’s unbelievably not fair that you get to be so pessimistic but so right about things, Foster.”

“Sorry,” she mumbled, not really meaning it.

They sat for a good while, watching as the sun set outside Havenfield’s pastures.

“You know, at least Silveny and Greyfell are all right. And Luna and Wynn. And Linh’s safe.” he said a few minutes later, breaking the peaceful silence. “I know it doesn’t seem like much. And I know it’s definitely temporary, given how turbulent the Neverseen are. But--remember what Linh said?”

“It’s the small victories that count,” Sophie found herself saying automatically.

“Exactly,” Keefe said. “So we while we have to force ourselves to take into consideration all these horrible things that have been happening, we also have to remember the small things. Those are the things that will remind us what we’re fighting for. We’re fighting for Tam. For Linh. For those alicorns. For the Council and the Collective and for all of the elvin world. ...But most of all, we’re fighting for happiness. Remember that.”

Sophie closed her eyes, letting the truth laced in his words sink in.

_We’re fighting for happiness._

She let those words steel her mind, soaking up the determination that glimmered at the edges of her endless doubt.

Keefe must have sensed her newfound confidence, grinning as he stood up and brushed off his pants. “I should probably get home before Grady comes up and finds out I snuck here.”

Sophie felt herself smiling. “Thanks for...this. Whatever this was.” She made a vague gesture that she hoped conveyed their conversation. “I feel a lot better.”

“That’s what friends are for,” Keefe said as he fidgeted with his home crystal. “Try to get some rest, Foster. Don’t stay up all night worrying.”

“I’ll try,” Sophie lied, knowing deep down that was exactly what she was going to do. “Same goes for you.”

“Night, Sophie.”

“Thanks, Keefe,” Sophie said, standing up as Keefe held his crystal to the light and glittered away.

\--

It was hard going back to Foxfire the next day, pretending everything was okay when it wasn’t.

Sophie didn’t miss the way Linh averted her red-rimmed gaze, and how quiet she’d gotten when Dex began discussing his latest project with Tinker. Or the empty spot on her right, saved for Tam, even when he wasn’t with them anymore.

She slipped over when everyone was occupied with the announcement Magnate Leto was making on the projection screen.

“You okay?” She asked.

Linh choked out a laugh that sounded more sad than comical. “I’m not going to pretend and say I am. But...I’m handling it. Just like everyone else is. It’s just..really hard,” she admitted, rubbing her eyes wearily. “You can’t imagine the things we’ve been through together.”

Sophie doubted she could, but she thought about the haggard home she’d found after dragging Mr. Forkle and all her friends to the twins’ dwelling outside the ogre capital. Or when she’d caught them joking around in the Healing Center, bringing out a confident side of Linh and a carefree side of Tam none of them had ever seen before. Or even the memory of Tam grumbling about the strange pet Linh had coerced him to get in Atlantis after he’d lost the competition Grizel had proposed when they were searching Keefe’s room.

And to think, she’d only seen a fraction of their relationship. Fifteen years they’d been living together, growing together, becoming the people they are today together. She couldn’t imagine what it would be like, losing her other half.

“I’m sorry,” Sophie said, wrapping her arm around the Hydrokinetic. “I shouldn’t have let him go.”

Linh laughed, and this time her dimmed silver eyes brightened a fraction. “I doubt he would have listened. My brother is as stubborn as he is a fighter.”

The words caused the cracks in Sophie’s heart to crumble a little more, lodging the knife in deeper. “He’s going to be okay.”

Linh nodded, seemingly too choked up to continue the conversation. She tugged on the tips of her silver hair, a habit so achingly similar to her brother’s.

Sophie stayed by her side, trying to give Linh as much of her strength as possible.

She resolved then and there that they would be getting Tam back.

They were going to come up with a plan.

A good one.

\--

“I say we stage an intervention,” Wylie said, breaking the suffocating silence their group had fallen in.

Ro, as reckless as she normally was, was the first to shake head in disagreement. “Gisela threatened harm if any of us tried recapturing him.”

“Don’t you just _love_ Mommy Dearest?” Keefe grumbled, running a hand through his rumpled hair.

“This seems kind of simple but…Why don’t we just ask for a meeting with them about sorpidine?” Biana asked, brushing a loose strand of hair behind her ear as she explained. “We might learn something about the sedative, and we kind of need to, fast--before they figure out how to use it and put literally everyone to sleep. And...There’s a good chance they’d bring Tam too. Seems like they were desperate to use his shadowflux for the sorpidine.”

Linh sighed. “But then we risk his safety. I wouldn’t put it past Vespera or Lady Gisela to use my brother as a bargaining chip.”

And so round and round they went.

Fitz caught Sophie as she stared off into space, passive as the rest of their friends argued about how get their beloved member back. He reached for her hand, tangling their fingers together.

“We’re going to get him back,” Fitz promised. “But we can’t be hasty. You’ve seen how well prepared the Neverseen are. We have to be a few steps ahead of them this time, use the element of surprise to our advantage.”

Sophie turned to him, frowning. “I think we have bigger problems than that,” she said, resisting the urge to tear out an eyelash. “It seems like we’ve all agreed that the only way to grant his freedom is by ending the Neverseen.”

Fitz nodded in agreement. “Otherwise, they’d never stop trying to get him back.”

“But...once we out the Neverseen to the world, to the Council...They’re going to be suspicious of his affiliation with them, even if it was for a good cause.” She hadn’t realized how quiet the room had gotten as she spoke her next words, blurting them out carelessly. “It’s treason. And who’s to say that Tam won’t turn to their side after whatever Gisela shows him? She was pretty adamant on proving to him how “not twisted” their organization is. She wanted him to join--permanently.”

The room was silent at the possibility.

Linh was the first to speak, and she looked angry at the words as they spilled from her lips. “I’ve considered this possibility, _both_ as a twin and as an outsider to his inner struggles. But...I can’t believe you would put the blame on Tam--especially when he sacrificed his freedom to keep us safe. That’s not what this battle is about, Sophie,” her anguished blue eyes looked so much like her brother’s when he’d turned himself over that Sophie had to take a deep breath to calm down and remind herself that it wasn’t him. “Tam isn’t just my brother. He’s my friend. He’s yours. He’s a member of the Black Swan. And this time of struggle and change and fear shouldn’t let us forget that.”

It took a second for the words to sink in. And the message was loud and clear.

“I’m sorry,” Sophie said, horrified at her hasty conclusions. “I shouldn’t have assumed--”

“Please don’t apologize,” Linh insisted with a small smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes. But she was still trying, and that was all that mattered.

“We can fix this. We can,” she said softly, to whoever was listening.

\--

As it turned out, they didn’t need a plan.

Sophie shot out of bed the moment the familiar _ping!_ of her imparter went off.

“Come to the Stone House immediately,” Mr. Forkle said, his voice crackly through the device. “I hate to put you kids in danger, but with our limited arsenal, the Black Swan won’t last. And we need to protect the base long enough to evacuate its residents.”

Who the said residents were, he didn’t mention.

Sophie yelled to Grady to hail her other friends and make sure they were aware of the happenings at the Black Swan base. They were planning to leap there, no strategy in mind.

Sophie sent Edaline to take stock of their arsenal, in case they would need more weapons during the confrontation. Her ability as a Conjurer was getting increasingly more useful as their battle with the Neverseen turned into a full-fledged war.

Grady caught Sophie’s arm as she rushed from her bedroom, goblin stars and daggers shoved into as many pockets as her clothes would allow. The pointed edges of her clothes didn’t stop him from pulling her into a hug. “I hailed Elwin and told him to be on standby. Something tells me this fight isn’t going to be as simple as we all hope it will be.”

Sophie leaned into his embrace, soaking in the warmth for a moment longer before pulling away and raising her shaking gaze to meet her adoptive father’s. “I know you’re not going to like this but...I don’t think you should come.”

She saw the moment he opened his mouth to argue, but Sandor put a gray hand on his shoulder.

“Sophie’s right,” he said in his squeaky voice. “We’re trying to prevent the casualties. Edaline is a necessary asset today because of her ability to access the arsenal.” He grimaced at the glare Grady shot him. “But the more the Neverseen see Sophie bring the people she loves into battle, they’re going be tempted to exploit that weakness.”

“Can’t argue with that reasoning,” Grady said, kissing Sophie’s head. “But it still doesn’t make it any easier for me.”

“I know,” Sophie said softly. “But you need to let me go. My friends need me.”

By that time, Edaline had returned with a full list of their supplies.

And with one last hug from Grady, Edaline, Sophie, and her bodyguards formed a tight circle leaped to the rendezvous.

\--

Before the light even cleared, Ruy had them trapped in a forcefield.

Sophie glanced around, taking in the determined expressions of all her friends--Fitz, Keefe, Wylie, Biana, Dex, and most significantly, Linh.

Her posture was confident as she stared at the four cloaked figures they were facing. But her silver eyes were sad as they searched the faces of the Neverseen in vain. Sophie knew she was looking for her brother.

Sophie could already guess who the other members were. Lady Gisela and Vespera, of course. The two leaders who seemed desperate to teach the Black Swan a lesson.

“Oh look, they’ve fallen for the same trick again,” Lady Gisela drawled, pulling back her hood. “How many times do you have to be trapped under a forcefield in order to learn that you might need a different strategy?”

“I’m getting tired of the same old, same old,” Ruy added, drawing his hand up to his face as if to stifle a yawn.

“Are you going to tell us what all this hassle is about?” Keefe asked, stretching his arms as he rolled his eyes. “I’ll have you know, I was training with the gorgodon when someone made a call and said you imbeciles were headed for the Stone House.”

“There better be a good excuse for this interruption,” Biana chimed in. She looked far too happy when she added: “Mr. Gorgodon was not happy when Keefe said he had to head out. Especially when he was told him it was because of his creator.”

Gisela narrowed her eyes. “You’re sadly mistaken if you think you can train those creatures. I would know.”

Sophie used their bickering to transmit to Edaline, _Keefe and Biana were at Havenfield?_

The guilty smile Edaline shot her was answer enough, but she still added, _Grady and I wanted you to rest. But...even then, we were surprised that you've slept through all the chaos. There was a lot of yelling. And roaring. And--_

“Enough!” Vespera yelled, silencing the group. “We are not here to discuss your misguided altercations to my carefully crafted plans,” she snapped to Gisela.

Her so-called comrade gritted her teeth.

“We,” Vespera said, with a flair of misplaced dignity around her, “are here to barter.”

_What’s your plan for getting Tam out of this mess?_ An accented voice asked, filling her mind with familiar warm tingles. Out loud, Fitz asked, “What makes you think we need anything?”

_I don’t know_ , Sophie admitted. _But we have to think of something--and fast._

“Have you forgotten?” Gisela gestured to the figure on her left, cloaked in the same black garment as the rest of her group. “Your defector.”

“He’s yours,” Keefe snapped. “ _You_ recruited him. And he willingly joined. We don’t need traitors in our order.” His voice dripped with venom.

Even though she knew it was an act, Sophie was glad that Tam’s hood had still been up, lest she see the treachery in his features. She hoped he knew it was a scheme, and that they still wanted him back, just as much as they did when he first left.

“Your Hydrokinetic doesn’t seem to agree,” Gisela noted with a menacing grin.

Linh still had her eyes glued to her brother.

“Who knew comradery would be the most dangerous weapon in the war? I certainly didn’t,” Vespera added with a raised eyebrow towards Linh.

Gisela sighed. “Let’s make this quick. Hand over Linh. And then maybe we’ll consider letting you go before our Shade rips through those fields with shadowflux. And I want you to remember--He’s more powerful than Umber had ever dreamed.”

Sophie bit her lip as Gisela started counting down.

No matter how many terrible scenarios played through her mind, in all of them, she couldn’t let Linh go. That would mean they’d lost two of their members, within the same amount of weeks.

No one else seemed to be able to give her up either. Even Linh stood there, frozen.

And when Gisela’s countdown reached the final _one_ , she gestured to Tam.

Their new Shade stepped forward, raising his hands to the sky to summon the shadowflux.

Sophie couldn’t watch as he began chanting words, the scene playing out far too similar to their confrontation with Umber, Gethen, and Ruy. She kept her eyes to the ground until there was sudden silence.

She looked up in confusion, fast enough to see that Tam had his body angled toward his twin, hands shaking.

Linh watched with a defeated look in her eyes.

Sophie had half a mind to run and shield her but--it was too late.

Tam sent the shadowflux sailing, sharp as an arrow, towards his sister.

“LINH!” The scream clawed its way up her throat.

Linh closed her eyes as the shadowflux approached.

But before anyone could do anything, the pitch-black arrow hit the forcefield, scattering into hundreds of pieces. Instead of sinking into the forcefield like regular shadows did, ending whatever connection Ruy had with the electric, the shadowflux shattered the field.

When Sophie looked up, the field was gone, leaving nothing but darkness.

Apparently she was slow to react, because by the time her heart had stopped racing and her mind finally computed what had occured, all of her bodyguards had gone after the collapsed Neverseen.

From across field, Tam threw back his hood, running towards them with a grin on his face.

Before he could reach them though, a huge wave came barreling in, soaking him from head to toe.

Sophie couldn’t help the laugh that bubbled from deep within her chest, seeing him standing there dripping in shock, hair matted to his face.

Tam shook his hair out, eyes searching for the culprit. And when his gaze landed on Linh, his smile brightened.

He _definitely_ was ready for the tackle hug she sent his way.

It was quite the sight, seeing the twins boisterous, happy in a way she’d never seen them before.

Sophie stepped aside, not wanting to ruin the moment.

“I can’t believe you did that to me,” Linh accused, turning serious. “I was ready to call my swan song.”

Tam’s brightened gaze dimmed. “I’m sorry. But--It was the only I could show my loyalty to the Neverseen, right before I knocked them out. If my plan goes correctly, they’ll assume I was captured alongside them. I couldn’t…” He stopped to blink his tears away. “I couldn't let them win.”

“How did you do it?” Sophie found herself asking. She mentally smacked herself for ruining the moment. Curiosity killed the cat. Or. Whatever.

“Repression,” Tam said, letting Linh go. He went back to tugging at his bangs, a habit Sophie now associated with nervousness. “It was the first thing I asked Lady Zillah to teach me. Knew it would be useful one day.”

“You really owe me one for that,” Linh said. She gave Tam a good punch in the chest for that.

“Oof!”

“Ow.” She recoiled, examining her knuckles.

“You’re going to need someone to show you proper punching etiquette,” Biana said from behind Sophie. “Here! I can demonstrate on my brother.” Biana readied her arm.

Fitz backed away. “Uh…”

Sophie yanked Fitz behind her. “No punching my boyfriend.”

Biana grinned. “YOU ADMIT IT!”

“Uh--” Sophie started, only to be gratefully interrupted by Linh.

“Your chest is...sharp?” She asked uncertainty.

“Oh…” Tam peeled back the cloak, letting it drop meaninglessly onto the grass. Before anyone could start screeching, he said quickly, “That was my Plan B.”

Sophie felt her eyes widen as she took in the two daggers strapped across his chest, and the throwing stars lining his shoulders.

“You were really prepared to get out of there, weren’t you?” Sophie said in awe.

Tam nodded. “I knew it might be my last chance. Vespera had this whole scheme that was supposed to play out. I’ll spare you the details but....It didn’t end well for you guys. Involved a lot of blood. And sorpidine.”

Keefe shoved his way into their little celebration. He wiped his eyes jokingly. “I’m proud of you, Bangs Boy.”

Tam grinned at him. “Funny thing, _I_ happen to recall you addressing me by name for the first time when we were in that tower with your mom.” He reached to pull at his bangs but seemed to realize what he was doing and dropped his hands. “Thanks for trying to convince my to stay, by the way. It would’ve worked if we were under different circumstances.”

Keefe blushed. “I…”

All Sophie could think was that this night was getting increasingly stranger as it went on. First, Forkle calls and says the Neverseen are coming to attack. Second, Tam takes an aim at his sister and everything thinks he’s turned to the other side and is about to kill her. Then the forcefield shuts off, and suddenly the Neverseen are being bound by their bodyguards and sent to the Collective. AND as a grand finale, Tam and Keefe... _seem to be getting along?!_

Tam changed the subject, looking proudly at their group. “Thank you for all trusting in me. I know it must have not been easy. But...We’re a team, yeah? We’re all fighting for the same ending, no matter how divided Gisela makes us seem.”

“And what is this we’re fighting for?” Linh asked, teasing.

“Happiness,” Tam responded easily.

Then he winked and stalked off to find the guards.  



End file.
